WALK


A deserted highway
He has walked for days
So much time to think
To reflect on what he has been

Step after step
Still no answers
All around him nothing
Vacant land and life

How many people have been hurt
By thoughtless acts
Still he walks
Hanging on to what might be

Night comes with blessed cool
The stars beckon him
No fog or ocean
To quench his desires

He stops to look up
The sky is black
Yet lit up with billions of stars
The wonder of life out there

A spark in his mind
The light ringlets
Coming toward him
He wonders if he should flee

He stands his ground
As the light surrounds him
He tastes fresh water
The body rejuvenated

The aches of some much walking relieved
What is happening
Who am I now
Should he feel so much joy

Still his mind
Cannot except this as reality
Has he finally fallen into delusion
The unreal is upon him

He leaves the road
Not knowing where
It will take him
In the distance mountains
Days away

Now he is obsessed
The passion for living
That was lost
Is his again

He doesn�t know
Why
But life has come to him in the night
The questions leave

Only the mountains remain
One thought lingers
Has he died
Left to wander in desolation

Walk, walk
Nothing else matters
Hunger gone
The mountains come closer

The desert turns to trees
A forest he barely recognizes
The change and the cold
As patches of snow over take the soft earth

He sees caves in the mountain side
Holes far away
He knows this is where
He is to be

Will he die here
Or come to rest
Ancient voices speak to him
There were once many peoples here

A gathering place
All are gone now
But the voices are in the earth
He stops and listens

We have been waiting for you
He builds a fire
Still unsure of his mind
What sanity has he left

The ancient ones calm him
He sits close to the fire
The flames take forms
And he knows their names

He tries to speak
But is held silent
They are apart of him now
Reality as he knew it is gone

Children play games laughing
Around him everything comes to life
There are men talking
Speaking of the secrets of life

Passed down from generations untold
Is this a dream
He understands all
The universe opens and closes about him

Oscillations of life energy
Beginning and end
All as one
Through out is love and learning

Civilizations come and pass
But the lessons remain the same
So he has been told
Now they leave him

Again he walks
Into the desert
Now he knows he must share
He will never know death again


Michael V Hechtman